As a member of the absurdist British comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese helped carve a cultural touchstone, while also writing and starring in such films as “A Fish Called Wanda” and “Fierce Creatures” (both with Jamie Lee Curtis) and guesting on sitcoms like “Will & Grace” and “Third Rock from the Sun.”
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Cleese → help → Sun
On Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, as part of the Just for Laughs festival, Cleese will screen the classic 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” at the Winter Garden Theatre, sharing stories and taking questions from the audience.
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Cleese → screen → audience
I recently caught up with the comic legend via a transatlantic Zoom call.
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I → catch → call
What is it about the film, besides being hilarious, that holds up 50 years later?
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that → hold → film
We didn’t realize at the time, but if you make a film that’s set in a particular historical period, it can’t age.
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it → realize → period
It’s the same with “Life of Brian,” the time of Christ.
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It → ’ → Christ
So that was a lucky chance, because we didn’t do it for that reason.
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we → do → reason
I have a scene that I’ve watched many times.
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I → have → that
It is Graham Chapman and Eric Idle, who are guards in Michael Palin’s castle, and he is telling them not to let his son leave the room.
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son → tell → room
They cannot take this information as they’re clearly MAGA supporters.
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they → take → information
But what I love about the scene is it lasts probably two and a half minutes, and there’s not a single cut in it.
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it → love → it
That’s extraordinary nowadays.
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That → ’ → ?
Most of the best comedy is played without many closeups in the two-shot, because when you’re watching two people being funny, you want to watch them at the same time.
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you → play → time
Is there one story from the making of the film that hardly anyone knows?
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anyone → know → that
(Shooting in Scotland) was such a horrible experience that the only joyful thing ... is I used to dress up and take a taxi into Perth where there was a place run by a Scottish chef and his French wife.
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I → use → chef
They served beautiful food.
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They → serve → food
I would go in there every evening feeling ground down and depressed because we didn’t have umbrellas and it rained the whole time.
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it → go → umbrellas
I discovered that there was white wine that was dry, not sour.
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that → discover → ?
I’d always thought white wine in those days was Yugoslavia and Riesling.
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wine → think → days
And I suddenly discovered white burgundies.
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I → discover → burgundies
And I love it so much.
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I → love → it
In fact, I took a part in a movie with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn called “The Out-of-Towners” because the character’s name was Mersault (a French white burgundy).
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name → take → Towners
Have you ever gotten a question during one of these audience Q&As that made you cringe?
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you → get → Q&As
Well, I usually get asked if I slept with Jamie Lee Curtis.
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I → ask → Curtis
What are you going to do with a question like that?
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you → go → that
You say no and nobody believes you.
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nobody → say → you
I think the funniest was a fellow in Oslo who stood up and said, “Mr. Cleese, I would like to propose a vote of thanks to your ex-wife.”
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I → think → wife
I said, “What are you talking about?”
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you → say → What
And he said, “Well, if it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t be in Oslo.”
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you → say → Oslo
Do you have a favorite memory of Toronto?
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you → have → Toronto
When I was in a Broadway musical (“Half a Sixpence”) in 1965, we went to Boston and then to Toronto, where we got appalling notices.
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we → go → notices
I said, “Why are these notices so bad?
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notices → say → ?
They loved us in Boston.”
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They → love → Boston
And they said, “Oh, it’s Canadian critics.”
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it → say → ?
There was a stage manager who came in one day before the show and he was going on and on and on about this film he’d see the previous night with spiders in it.
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he → be → it
When we had a break, because there was a matinee, I went out and went past a magicians’ shop and saw a wonderful black spider.
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I → have → spider
I took the spider back and I put it in the man’s box of tissues and when he went over and pulled a tissue out of the box, the spider came at him.
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spider → take → him
He screamed and backed up till he had his back against the wall.
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he → scream → wall
I think that was the most successful practical joke I ever played.
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I → think → ?
As a movie fan yourself, what would you like to see presented with a creator’s Q&A session?
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you → like → session
…and 51 more, not listed.
The Aporia
